The Choices We Make
by mwang
Summary: It's sophomore year, said to be the easiest one. Well, for Diego it proves to be incredibly difficult. Sid is pressuring him to join band and Buck is equally insistent that he join orchestra, but he loves football. To do football with Soto though, could mean leaving behind his true friends. And when Shira comes into his life, everything gets even more complicated.Humanized fanfic.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, so yes, I'm starting another fanfic. I promise to work on my old ones as long as you review. **_  
_

**Look on the bright side! I'll have some Diego/Shira stuff in here! YES! And some old characters too! Like Soto! Note: Shira doesn't come in until later. You'll see why...hopefully.**

_**I don't own Ice Age!**_

_****_**Full summary:**

**Set in modern day human times, the herd is going through high school together. (No Peaches- strictly the adult members...as teenagers, sorry****) Sid and Manny insist Diego join band, Buck insists he join orchestra and Soto insists he stick to football. But as the year progresses, Soto's friendship begins to seem fake. And then Shira enters the school as the new girl who plays the viola. Suddenly Diego's life is turned topsy turvy as he falls for her, Soto threatens him, and Sid continues to persist his incessant whining about how he should join band. But is it possible that Shira, who could possibly be the girl of his dreams, is falling for the wrong guy?**

**Specifically, Buck?**

* * *

_Beep-beep, Beep-beep Beep—_

Diego groggily pressed the snooze button, cursing the alarm clock silently. He rolled over onto his back and groaned. Ugh, _school._ And it was the first day of school, which meant that Sid and Manny would bug him for the rest of the month to quit woodshop and join band.

"But you _know_ that would mean I'd have to quit the football team!" moaned Diego that very same day to Sid.

"So? Does the football team take you to _Disneyland_? FOR FREE?Does the football team have loads and loads of nice people to hang out with? Does the football team have _cute girls_?"

"No, Sid. We don't go to Disneyland. I have a season pass—"

"Season passes are stupid," interrupted Buck, appearing almost out of nowhere," when you could go with your friends for free. Did I mention it's free? It's free. And no parent chaperones. And Sid? Everyone knows there's a limited number of cute girls in band. They're all in orchestra. "

Diego groaned.

"As I _was saying_," the orange hair-ed high school sophomore continued," The football team has nice _enough_ people—"

"Including seniors who beat you up," said Sid.

"Seniors beat people up in band, too," pointed out Buck, motioning to the fading bruise on the side of Sid's head,

"Not very often though."

'..._Right_."

"And although the football team doesn't have cute girls _on_ it, we get to hang out with cheerleaders."

Everyone was quiet for a moment as the meandered through the empty hallways. It was always quiet in the mornings. Diego liked it this way.

"…I occasionally hang out with cheerleaders," Buck said quietly, his accent almost undistinguishable.

"They just like you because of your accent."

Buck smiled cutely,"I try."

At last people began milling around the hallways. Diego said farewell to his musical friends and Buck straightened up and gave him a mock salute.

* * *

**Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! Tigey Wigey, thanks a bunch for helping me with this fic! **

**I don't own Ice Age!**

**enjoy! (and review!)**

* * *

Sid stepped quickly towards Manny, hoping to avoid a confrontation with a certain pair of saxophone players._Please don't be early, please don't be early. _He saw that Manny was talking to a slightly big-boned girl (which is not to say she was fat, she just wasn't skinny, which is good I suppose, because it's better to be somewhat well fed than to be starving) which glowing mocha skin and a smile that could be compared to a commercial for toothpaste. Now Sid started to panic- Ellie was here, which meant her brothers could be anywhere, out on the prowl to get him. Suddenly he laughed. He was afraid of a couple of little freshman! Short ones too, but all the same...He shuddered at memories of waking up to rats in his hair, pickles in his socks and tarantulas on his toothbrush.

_Just a few more feet, I can make it, I can do this-_

"Hey, Sid," came a slightly high pitched voice.

"No, no, no, no, no," whispered Sid, weaving between numerous clarinet and flute players to reach Manny. Manny could have made the football team easily- he would be safe if he could reach Manny.

"Oh,_ Sidney!"_ sang Crash (or was it Eddie?), popping up in his face, "There you are!"

"Uh...yeah. Hey," he said uneasily, noting the mischievous look in the younger adolescent's light blue eyes.

He let out a sigh of relief. "Hi, Manny."

"Oh, hey Sid," Manny said absentmindedly.

"Eddie! You leave that piccolo alone!" yelled Ellie to her brother, who was apparently abusing the woodwind instrument.

"Hello, Sid," she said cheerily.

"Good morning, Ellie."

They shuffled towards some empty chairs (complete with music stands) in the back of the room and listened to the band teacher's annual first-day-of-school speech.

* * *

(lunch)

"Are ya buyin', Diego?" Diego turned around, surprised that he'd missed Buck in his casual search for friends in the lunch line, done by occasionally turning one's head and glancing around for any signs of well known peers.

"Uh...yeah. Pizza, what about you?" Asked Diego, a hundred percent sure Buck would say no, because Buck always said no and brought his own lunches.

"Aye. Either that or starve," he said with a crooked grin.

"Wait, what? You're buying? No kiwis? No kumquats? No avocado-bacon-and red pepper sandwiches?" the football player asked incredulously, recalling the numerous times Buck had shown up with the weirdest, self-packed lunches.

"Nope, no' today," he said nonchalantly, as if this were totally normal (which it wasn't).

* * *

"MANNY!" Manny turned around upon hearing his name, searching the crowd for the announcer. He caught sight of a lanky teen with dark hair, blue eyes, and freckled splattered across his nose waving from the other side of the cafeteria. Beside him, Diego nodded at Manny. Manny nodded back at both of them. Maybe Buck had been instantaneously semi-popular because of his happy-go-lucky personality and accent that some girls found adorable (not to mention the hair- he'd heard a few remarks about Buck's hair in science class last year), but Manny hadn't been. (Band didn't help much, but he told very few people his elective)

While he didn't care as much about his rep as Diego, he still cared, like everyone. Even Buck cared, but as mentioned before, he was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, whereas Manny was the more mature one of the group.

And what a group they had.

There was Diego the football jock with his orange-brown hair and serious personality, the least talkative one (which is not to say he didn't talk) who got the best grades in science and Spanish (which Manny sucked at but Diego already knew (if not very fluently)), and was horrible at cooking.

Then you had Sid, with his acne problem and pale blond hair, who could never seem to stop talking,constantly needed help with math, and excelled in cooking.

There was Ellie, who was adopted, with her dark skin and beautiful smile, who loved history and enjoyed band. Ellie's brothers were annoying, but had to be considered as "one of them" for some unspoken rule. They always got in trouble, or else caused trouble and didn't get caught. Eddie maintained a steady stream of B minuses and the occasional C+, while his brother was all C's and B's.

And then there was Buck.  
Now that he thought about it, Manny realized he didn't actually know Buck very well. He knew that Buck had moved here temporarily from Britain for his mother's job last year, he knew that Buck had been first chair violin all last year (which is, in normal people speak, the best position to have in the violin section of orchestra. If you want even simpler, it means when everyone in the orchestra is periodically, individually tested on their playing ability, out of all the violins Buck had scored the highest. Every. Freaking. Time. Manny still couldn't get over this, having only been first chair trombone for two months) and he knew that his friend was a socially outgoing person, and somewhat weird.

But besides this, Manny knew very little about him. Buck usually lived in the present, and didn't say much about his past life besides the occasional near-death-experience story (like the time he'd climbed a tree when he was six, the branch had broken, he had fallen and broken his leg or the time he'd been at Vons and it'd gotten held up by a man with a gun). The most personal thing that Manny knew about Buck was probably that he wore contacts in one eye.

Last but not least, there was himself. Manny, could-have-made-the-football-team Manny, with dark hair and brown eyes, only-been-in-one-fist-fight Manny (Diego had been in six), the one who got stressed out the most and often took it out on Sid.

"G'day mate," greeted Buck cheerily. He motioned for Manny to sit down at their newly chosen table.

"Hey Manny," said Diego.

"Hey, Dee."

Lunch became a flurry of pizza, sandwich, stories and questions until the bell rang and the three departed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, guys! Today we will step further into some character's lives...Also, don't use this chapter for schoolwork, this is opinionated and thus will get you a bad grade. It's not, like, carefully thought through or anything.**

**I don't own Ice Age! Belongs to blue sky studios! "Nothing Gold Can Stay" is a poem by robert frost and I _don't_ own it and I _didn't_ write it so don't sue me.**

* * *

November

Thunder rumbled overhead, but the heavens refused to cry. Buck hopped up the 13 steps that lead to the gym and slipped around to the back, where the dome-topped music room was.

It was closed. Curses.

Buck sat down on his violin case and pulled out his unfinished English homework. Buck had never been very good a poetry analyses, at least not in his opinion. Sure, the teachers always claimed there was no right or wrong answer, but the way he interpreted things never came close to how the writer meant to poem to be interpreted. Currently, they had to "interpret" a Robert Frost poem, line by line. Buck groaned.

_Nature's first green is gold_

_Her hardest hue to hold_

What the heck was _that_ supposed to mean? The verses repeated themselves over and over again in his head. He scribbled something down about how when leaves are new, they're so green they're almost yellow. He really didn't feel like searching for deeper meaning right now.

_Her early leaf's a flower_

_But only so an hour_

_Then leaf subsides to leaf_

_So Eden sank to grief_

Buck chewed his pencil and erased everything he'd written, thinking back on the time he'd read S.E. Hinton's _The Outsiders._ Hadn't he had to analyze this poem then, too? He spent the next five minutes scrawling words across the paper, the only ones vaguely readable were words pertaining to "special" and something about the garden of Eden.

_So dawn goes down to day_

Buck stuffed the paper into his binder as he heard footsteps and out of tune whistling that could only be whistled by Sid.

"Hey, mi amigo!"

"Hello-_umph! _'Ello, Sid," grunted Buck as the other teen rammed himself into Buck in a bear hug.

"I heard there's a new girl joining Orchestra."

"Aye, apparently she plays the viola. She's supposed to come today- hey, she's new to California, right?"

"I think she's from Wyoming."

"I heard she's from New York. An' someone else told me Canada, an' Crash said he heard from Eddie who heard from Elijah Brown who heard from 'is sistah that she's gotten kicked out of every other school she's been to."

"Well, I guess we'll get to find out today..." Sid trailed off as rain started pouring down.

"Blast it! Of all the times to rain!"

More kids filed into the school and ran under the eaves or into classrooms. Sid ran to the locker room and Buck wandered into the hallway to escape the rain. He caught the music teacher heading towards the room with a set of keys, so Buck followed at a safe distance, pulling his hood up and walking under the eaves of the gym.

And then he saw her.

A girl with long black hair and a streak of brown in the front, with olive skin and eyes like the ocean. A girl holding what appeared to be a small violin case. A girl who was stopping the teacher to talk to him.

A new girl.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again! Thanks for reviewing! I don't own ice age! I love weekends!**

* * *

Diego sat down at his desk in math, not expecting the chain of events that followed. He didn't expect a beautiful girl to walk into class and sit next to him, five minutes late nor did he expect Buck to follow soon after with a not and a few hushed words to the teacher. Maybe it was the Fates that caused Anthony Rodriguez to be absent that day, thus causing a seat to be open between himself and Buck, a seat for _her._ But whatever the case, he was happy.

The girl was introduced as Shira (what a queer name), and she said not one word to him that entire class period.

As she shuffled back to her seat after sharpening her pencil halfway through Pre-Calculus she gave a small nod in his direction, the only sign that she had ever acknowledged him. Evidently Buck had been assigned as her First-Day-Of-School guide, the lucky duck, as he spent a decent amount of time answering numerous questions on how to get to what classrooms and what-chapter-are-we-on-in-here and such.

Diego definitely didn't foresee what was to happen at lunch.

* * *

"Diego, there you are! Hey, have you seen-" Sid was interrupted by the collision of his best friend and Shira (that was her name, right?).

Diego walked straight into her, his messy lunch tray spilling all over her clothes.

"You idiot! Watch where you're going!"

"Shoot, I'm so sorry. Honestly, I didn't see you-" He stooped down to pick up the slimy tray as she stood frozen on the spot.

Mystery Meat slid across the front of her shirt and cole slaw embedded itself into her jeans.

Dead silence. Half of the school was watching. Someone whistled a long note that seemed to spiral downward.

"That looked like an expensive shirt," Buck said quietly to Sid from behind. Sid jumped and would have crashed into Buck's lunch tray, had Buck not deftly stepped aside in time.

"It was," the black-haired girl said bitterly as she wiped off some meat disgustedly.

She spat on Diego's shoe and stormed out of the cafeteria.

"Nice first impression," commented Sid.

"Shut up," muttered Diego darkly as he threw away what was left of his lunch. They left the cafeteria and ate by the field.

"What was her name? Sheila?"

"Shira," Buck corrected.

"Yeah, of course you would know," mumbled cursed. "She was cute."

"And now she hates you."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Ya like her?" Buck tilted his head thoughtfully, his blue eyes searching for an answer on Diego's face.

"I don't even know her."

"I thought so," Buck said with a smirk.

"Buck!"

"I'm only messin' with ya," Buck bit back a grin. Diego rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Right." There was a long, awkward silence broken only by the forlorn whistle of the wind through the trees.

"So...You like her."

* * *

Diego dropped his backpack on the floor of his bedroom, sighing tiredly. It had been a long day- too long. Sometimes he wondered how he became friends with Buck, but deep down he knew why. He would never admit it, but he wanted to be like him. He admired him. He was jealous. Now, his mom hadn't been a very religious person, but his dad had been. Before...he died. Before the accident, Diego's father, Alejandro, had told him stories and stuff about how 'The good Lord looks down upon pride," and such, and similar preachings about jealousy. But as much as he liked Buck, he envied him.

Diego envied his ability to make friends, Buck's casual easy-goingness, his confident self-expression. And now he had another reason to wish he was the British boy.

Shira.

Formerly, Diego would have never understood why guys got into big fights over girls. He still didn't understand why you would get physical, but...he was starting to see why a quarrel might arise; how; when; over what. That was his shame, that he would even think about letting a girl he didn't even know come between him and a friend. A friend who wasn't even interested in her, dating-wise. He took his mind off of it by thrusting himself into the world of AP English, a subject that at the moment he regretted getting into. At least he was better at this than Buck, though.

Diego mentally reprimanded himself. Don't turn this into a competition; you've got enough among your fellow football team members.


	5. Chapter 5

"_It started with a whispeeeeeeer,"_ Buck sang quietly into Diego's ear as Diego sat down next to Shira.

"Shut up, will you?" Mumbled Diego angrily.

"_And that was when I kissed heeeeeeeeeeeeer_," what made it worse was that, unlike Sid, Buck was actually good at singing. And he knew more songs than Sid, making Diego into an even bigger target.

"Buck," growled Diego.

"Why don't _you_ shut up, jerk? Leave Buck alone," snapped Shira. Buck laughed.

"_And then she made my lips huuuurt,_" Buck sang in an almost inaudible voice.

"Why don't you mind your own business?" _Real smooth Diego. Now she's totally going to forgive you._

"What, you want to hear you and only you, as usual?"

"Uh, hey mates it's lovely weather today, eh?" Buck said nervously as tension began to build. Diego glared at Shira, who in turn glared back.

"Wonderful," Diego said angrily,"it's simply divine."

* * *

About during passing period a few hours later, Buck ran into someone. Presumably one of the "bad influence" sort of kids who went here, judging by her smell and appearance. Greasy, frizzy purple hair hung over her angry eyes and she cussed at Buck. He stopped himself from choking on her perfume.

"Well, your day was a total waste of makeup," he snapped. Today was not as good of a day as it should have been, and it was partially- partially, mind you!-his fault.

"And yours was a waste of cologne," she growled fiercely.

" Nice one. I must say, I like your perfume. Must you marinate in it? Or is that your way of seducing guys? Because, believe me, it's not working. Unless, of course, you like your boys dead from suffocation " If he'd been having a better day, he would have felt bad about being so harsh.

"Shut up," the girl muttered.

"Make me."

A short, scrawny kid with light blond hair and buck teeth appeared behind her.

"Who's this punk, Raz?" he asked.

Buck melted into the crowd and make a beeline for his classroom.

"Chicken!" he heard someone shout. He cringed, but sat down. Obviously, this day was not going as well as he had anticipated. For once, his pessimistic sister was right about this being a horrible day. Not that he would let her know she was right; she had a big enough ego as it was.

* * *

"So did you enjoy ruining my chances with Shira?" spat Diego as they sat down on the field again.

"Hey, it's not like she liked you anyway," defended Buck, raising his hands in a helpless gesture. "Besides, you could 'ave been a nice chap and just ignored or sang along with me. It's not my fault you have anger issues."

"I don't have anger issues," grumbled Diego.

Buck looked at Sid and rolled his eyes. "I beg to differ," said Sid in a snobby tone. A slice of baloney fell out of his sandwich and mayonnaise stained his jeans. "Aw, come on!"

Diego's frown lessened. They were ugly pants anyway. And Buck did have a point...

"So what's she like?" asked Diego.

"Eh...She plays viola, she's not amazing but she doesn't sound half bad, either...She's no' that great at science...I suppose she's okay at math...that's about all I know. Why?" Buck shot a sly glance at his friend.

"No reason," said Diego, "can't I just be curious?" Buck shrugged and ate a slice of cold Hawaiian style pizza.

"Domino's or Pizza Hut?" asked Sid.

"Costco Take and Bake."

"Ooooh, fancy."

"Not really, but thank you."

* * *

**So, did you like it? Was it bad? Good? Mediocre? Please review! Constructive criticism is welcome and wanted. **

**I don't own Ice Age, as you already know because I say it before every chapter...**

**Will Shira continue to hate Diego? Will Manny learn to play the bassoon? Will Sid audition for drum major and break Ellie's favorite cup with a baton? When will Christmas come to town in Quebec? And will the world end in less than a month?**

**DUNDUNDUNNNNNN**


	6. Chapter 6

**It's been too long, I'm sorry, I was distracted by the colors of the world outside this fandom. (cough, the Hobbit, cough- what? hehe...) Well, Happy New Year! Happy World-Didn't-End! Happy MLKJ DAY! (story reference!)**

**As for my story, Angel (or is it Paranormal Activity? I'm confused.) I have the chapter mostly written out, but it's long and saved on my phone, which means I must re-type it, which means I am to lazy to do so, but don't worry I'm working on it.**

**Now, where did I leave off? **

* * *

**A/N: the events described in the chapter involving the fight are simplified. Later, I'll give more insight onto what happened, and Diego will not seem_ quite_ as irrational as he may come off to be in this chapter.**

* * *

Diego took his emotions out on the track. Football practice had been canceled, which was fine. He needed some alone time. He was glad for the cold weather- even though it stiffened the muscles, it improved endurance.

Thunder rumbled overhead, the clouds begging him to go home, to forget it, to at least drink some water. Diego couldn't, though. He couldn't forget the words she'd said to him. The words he'd said to her. The smell of the gang.

He was trying, though. Trying to force his inability to forgive onto the muddy track and maybe gain some sort of peace- trying but not trying enough. Diego pushed himself to go faster. Faster, drown out the hurtful memories, forget what he had seen. Trying to forget what he had done to his friend. Please, please, please, don't let this be how the rest of high school progresses.

He came to a halt in front of the bleachers and peered into a puddle. His reflection reminded his that he couldn't run from this. The black eye and busted lip were both silent testimonies to this...This situation.

He closed his hazel-ish green eyes, his orange-brown hair whipping in the wind.

_"We are not friends. We never were. We will never be anything more than acquaintances, if even that."  
_

_"What?" he looked at her, puzzled. "Shira, all I asked is if- was it something I said? Can't we put all of that behind us?" _

_She looked down at her worn-out sneakers. Diego couldn't help but notice how pretty she was. The way her hair framed her tan face; the way she stood. That wasn't why he was drawn to her, though. There were dozens of pretty girls at this school. _

_Shira was something more. She wasn't shallow, like them. Conceited, yes. Haughty, yes (at least towards him). Proud, yes. But she was soulful. He could see it in her eyes, and there was something in the way she described things, the way she moved the bow across the strings of her viola and how delicately she fingered the notes. She was spunky and not afraid of a challenge; she put effort into things that most girls would turn their noses up at. She was funny. She was witty. __  
_

_She was full of hatred._

Diego turned away from the track and stood beneath the bleacher as sprinkles of rain leaked out of the heavens. From his dirty backpack he pulled out the ripped sheet music. He stared at the meaningless dots on lines, with Buck's slanted scrawl indicating where a breath should not be taken, where a crescendo should be, where to play 'majestically' and whose music it was (Buck's, of course). On the back, someone had been using it as a calendar and notepad.

_**Monday, December 22nd 7:30 PM concert black BHM TS  
**__**Second semester- concert obs. due /-^** **  
**__**Irvine recording** **-/ **_

**_Bring milly ticket_**

**_flight _**

**_Disneyland! 3-24_**

**_explain legato/_**[illegible handwriting]

**_ [ stick-man beneath a rest symbol]_**

**_Stop! You're under a rest!_**

Ooh, that cop is gonna kick his bass!

_Good think he's not a minor, or he'd be in for double time!_

**_You guys are nerds; these puns are SOoo flat_**

_You lie! They are the sharpest in the measure!_

**_I do believe Shira has quite lost not only her marbles, but her key signature as well_**

**_sorry, that was lame_**

_no, really? _

_don't worry, we know you're not the sharpest accidental in the measure_

Sighing, Diego looked away from the punny conversation surrounded by doodles and pulled out his cell phone.

**Compose:**

**To-Ellie**

Do u know where Buck lives?

He pulled out a few other sheets of music, now crumpled and sad-looking. Ellie replied immediately, and he strode purposefully towards the bus stop.

A desolate, hopeless figure sat at the bench, his head resting on his knees and his hands clasped in front of him as if in prayer. As Diego neared, he walked slower. The brown hair became clearer, the battered violin case that prior to the day's events had been almost new came into sight. Diego noticed the tear in the figure's jacket. The blood on his ear. Diego placed the sheet music on the bench beside Buck, now with an added note (the word kind, not the music kind). Evidently he would not need an address after all.

Buck did not look up. Diego did not voice his apology. He stood there, waiting for the bus. The air was tense, or felt so to Diego.

The feeling of failure was back. Failure to his friend. Failure to stand up for him in the face of danger, in the face of the ghetto students. In the face of Shira's...friends. He had believed them, that Buck had something going on with her. That they were dating. He had let them hurt Buck. He had walked away in spite, then turned around after seeing her reaction to the scene.

They were liars, framing him to see his reaction. Revealing what a coward he was, that he would in fact choose a girl over his friend. A girl who hated him. The original argument had been over an entirely different matter concerning neighborhoods, and he had made it worse. And so she yelled at him, and he asked her to the dance, and they yelled at each other. And Buck stayed on the ground clutching his ear and cupping a hand over his bad eye as they screamed. Finally, after some time, the Brit stepped in between the "stupid, hot-headed Americans" and started shouting, and it became a shouting fest. Diego repeated the accusations, and Buck punched him, and Diego pushed him back. Then, Shira punched Diego in the mouth and threw her friend's violin case across the parking lot where it spilled open and the bow was snapped in half beneath a Prius.

Just like Diego's friendship with Buck.

Now, as they sat at the bus stop with Buck in the defeated stance and Diego looking away they wondered what had happened. When had it become so confusing.

The bus pulled up, and Buck silently put away the music, picked up his belongings and climbed aboard. Diego noticed the cell phone and the redness around Buck's eyes, and he realized that there was more to this situation than he was aware of. Diego took a seat in the back, far behind Buck and he felt dizzy.

He missed yester-year.


	7. Grievious apology

**Hello my beloved fanfiction users,**

** (will delete this author's note later, I promise) **

** I loved this story. You loved this story. I hope you know how much it pains me to say that for now, I cannot continue writing this. Eventually I shall continue if the spark returns, but until then (if it should ever happen) I will not be unploading anymore chapters for this story. I know it's been a while anyway, and I know how disappointing it is to see a story updated only to find an author's note, but please understand. This story was written because I had friends in band and orchestra because our music teacher made it awesome, and because I was in it too, and because (as we all do) I immensly enjoy writing Ice Age fanfictions. **

** However, our music teacher was special. He was 50% of our attitude toward band, he was our counseler when times were hard, he let us ride around on carts and eat lunch with him and watch Gangnam style parodies with him. We loved him. In April, he went on army leave, and we thought nothing of it because it was normal. Until we got a terrible subsitute. Until we found out that he was not coming back to our state for a very, very long time. My regret is that in his last school days with us I could not come up with theright words to say goodbye, and because of that I fear that he will never understand how much he meant to me, how much I wanted to thank him for. We missed band when we had a conductor who could conduct and who treated us with enough respect. We made fun of our on elective, we wept, we hated our substitute, and most of our days were filled with expressing our dislike and discomfort. We ended the school year revlieved to be free of him, but sad that we couldn't end the year the way we'd imagined. I don't think that's very inspiring. **

** Anyway, to sum that up: happy memories turns dark and soon inspiration for this story is lost in a sea of longing and misery. Wow, that was really melodramatic. I hope you understand why, for the moment, I can't write this story, though. BUT if you guys are willing to give me plot pointers (because I have no idea where this story isheaded anyway) I may resume this story sooner.**

** Sincerely,**

** Mwang/mwang's co partner**


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